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There were 18 races made up of 1,118 laps and 5,500km, but Lewis
Hamilton's Formula One destiny was decided at the last bend and
over the final 500-metre stretch of the season's concluding
race.

On an unforgettable last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the
23-year-old McLaren driver stormed into the record books as the
youngest champion in the history of the sport and its first black
winner.

But it didn't take long for the champagne to start tasting
distinctly flat.

Just weeks after Hamilton's win, the global economic meltdown
led to the shock withdrawal of Honda - and its reported $US400
million ($A585.99 million) budget - from the grid.

With the sport becoming increasingly unsustainable, cost-cutting
measures were introduced aimed at trimming its mind-boggling
budgets.

From 2009, and with the aim of slicing a third off team costs,
engine life will be doubled, revs reduced while in-season testing
(except at race weekends) will be stopped.

In 2010, refuelling will be banned while standard engines,
costing around $US6.5 million ($A9.52 million) a season, are set to
be introduced.

Before the financial storm struck, however, there was hurricane
Hamilton.

In Brazil, he needed only to finish fifth to claim the
championship he had lost by just one point on the same Interlagos
track to Kimi Raikkonen 12 months earlier.

However, two laps from the end he was passed by Sebastien Vettel
who charged away leaving the limping Toyota of Timo Glock, running
on heavily-worn dry-weather tyres in the rain, in his way.

In the end, Glock could not resist and Hamilton nipped past at
the final bend before negotiating the final 500 metres in almost
complete darkness to take the title by one point.

With the decisive move coming so late in the race, local boy and
race winner Felipe Massa had thought the title was his and the
celebrations were already underway in the Ferrari garage.

"Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable," said
Hamilton.

"Then it started to drizzle. Vettel got past and I was told that
I had to get in front of him. I couldn't believe it. Then, at the
last corner I managed to get past Glock and it was just
amazing."

Hamilton won five of the season's races to Massa's six, but the
Brazilian was left to rue a poor start which saw him retire in
Australia, a race which the Briton won, while spinning off after
taking pole in Malaysia.

Massa bounced back winning three of the next six races in
Bahrain, Turkey and France.

Hamilton had triumphed in the wet at Monaco despite hitting the
barriers and suffering a puncture.

His victory proved a welcome diversion from the travails of FIA
chief Max Mosley, the target of a tabloid sting which had
graphically reported his involvement in a sado-masochist sex
scandal.

Hamilton was 10 points behind Massa after Magny-Cours before he
recovered at the British Grand Prix where he defied the pouring
Silverstone rain to win by a staggering 68.5sec with Massa last of
the 13 finishers.

At the halfway point of the season, Hamilton and Massa were
locked on 48 points along with Raikkonen who had even led the
championship in the early part of the campaign.

At Hockenheim, Hamilton won again, passing Massa with a bold
move in the closing stages and from that point on he never
relinquished the championship lead.

Not that the outcome of the season was a foregone
conclusion.

Massa took a processional win on the streets of Valencia before
he was handed victory at Spa after Hamilton was harshly stripped of
first place for cutting out a chicane.

Massa started from pole at the first night-time race in
Singapore but finished 13th after a mistake in the pits saw him
speed away with the fuel hose still attached to his car.

In Japan, pole-sitter Hamilton overran the first corner and went
off the track with Raikkonen and was later hit by Massa.

The title triumph was a fairytale finish for the boy from an
English municipal housing estate whose father Anthony once held
down two jobs to help his son realise his dream.

But success hasn't come without its problems.

Before the season started, Hamilton was subject to vicious
racist taunts in Barcelona. He then fell out with brooding rivals
who criticised his technique and judgement.

The Briton, now a multi-millionaire and a tax exile, shrugged it
off, confirming his place amongst the glitterati with a world title
on his CV and a Pussycat Doll girlfriend on his arm.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the British Grand Prix in July.

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